Usually handcuffs include a first half-bracelet rotating around a second half-bracelet, the first half-bracelet being equipped at its open end with a ratchet interlocking with the internal pawl. The pawl is located inside the handcuffs casing and is usually interdependent from the second half-bracelet. The locking teeth prevent the first half-bracelet from unlocking when the ratchet interlocks with the internal pawl. The handcuffs are thus locked around the wrist of an individual or locked around an object in order to be fixed to him. The length of the ratchet is designed so that the handcuffs perfectly adjust themselves to wrists of various sizes as well as to ankles. The casing includes means for locking and unlocking.
These kinds of handcuffs suffer from several disadvantages. First of all, two hands are needed to cuff a member to be restrained. One hand must hold the handcuffs casing and the second half-bracelet against the member to be restrained, while the other hand must adjust the first half-bracelet, pushing the ratchet in deeper or shallower. During this manipulation, the operator is at the risk of aggressive behavior by the person to be restrained. If the arrested person resists, classic handcuffs cannot be used. Also these handcuffs require that the member to be restrained is not held to the body or against any surface. In effect, the first half-bracelet needs room to close freely to the second.
Moreover, in order to remove the handcuffs, the operator has to hold them in one hand, open them with the key and then release the blocked member. All these manipulations make the use of handcuffs tedious and not well suited to situations sometimes requiring urgency and speed.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide handcuffs without these disadvantages and equipped with a means of handcuffing with one hand.